UCLA NOTEBOOK: LINEMAN LIGHT ON HIS FEET.Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer Jerzy Siewierski is no ordinary defensive lineman. Before he wore cleats, he donned ballet shoes Ballet shoes, or ballet slippers, are specially designed lightweight shoes for ballet dancing. Ballet shoes are soft shoes worn by ballet dancers until their bones are ossified and their muscles strong enough for them to use pointe shoes, which allow them to stand on the . When Siewierski was 5, his mom -- a professional dancer -- enrolled him in a ballet class. He participated in a recital at the end of the year, but his dancing career was over after that. ``It was fun, but I don't remember too much of it,'' Siewierski said. He doesn't remember if his dancing background helped him with his footwork now, but it was one of the reasons his mom signed him up for the class. Siewierski said his mom, Stacy Siewierski-Law, was the star dancer in ``Enter the Night,'' a show at the Stardust star·dust n. 1. A dreamlike, romantic, or uncritical sense of well-being. 2. A cluster of stars too distant to be seen individually, resembling a dimly luminous cloud of dust. Not in scientific use. 3. Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. . Siewierski, who played football at Reed High in Sparks, Nev., used to go to the show with his mom as a young boy. He loved the grand hats she wore. ``She was on billboards when I was little,'' Siewierski said. ``I didn't know what it was back then, but it's fun to look at now. When I was little, I used to go backstage. Once I realized what was going on, like the anatomy of women, I didn't go back there anymore.'' Siewierski now is doing just fine in cleats. He made his debut at tackle as a true freshman True freshman is a term used in NCAA sports, indicating that an athlete is playing the sport in his first year of college, rather than redshirting for one or more years to protect future college eligibility. against Stanford last week since Chase Moline was out with a herniated disc Noun 1. herniated disc - a painful rupture of the fibrocartilage of the disc between spinal vertebrae; occurs most often in the lumbar region ruptured intervertebral disc, slipped disc rupture - state of being torn or burst open . Siewierski said he learned a lot of new techniques from defensive line coach Todd Howard Todd Howard is the current executive producer for Bethesda Softworks, creators of The Elder Scrolls universe and videogame series. Todd has stated that Bethesda's philosophy for the Elder Scrolls games is to allow people to "Live another life, in another world. , but nothing could prepare him for the atmosphere of playing for the first time at the Rose Bowl. Not even the bright lights of Vegas. ``It's different,'' he said. ``In my hometown of Reno, we didn't have that many people come to our games. I can't say I wasn't nervous. It was my first time out. Our scout team In sports, the scout team, also referred to as a practice team or practice squad, is a group of players on a team whose task is to emulate future opponents for the featured (or starting) players. gave us a great look of how they played and that really helped me.'' Injury notes: Receiver Brandon Breazell didn't practice, but he did stop by Spaulding Field near the end of practice wearing a sweatshirt and shorts. Breazell, UCLA's starting flanker, had a broken tooth and was in some pain. Breazell is fine and will play Saturday against Arizona, according to coach Karl Dorrell. Moline did not practice Thursday and will not play Saturday. Tough road: UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX shouldn't overlook Arizona, especially based on its 52-14 debacle in Tucson last year, but it would be hard not to anticipate the next few games. The Bruins are at Oregon and at Notre Dame the next two weeks. ``It's important for us to focus on one game at a time, that's our motto -- try to be 1-0every week,'' cornerback Rodney Van said. jill.painter@dailynews.com (818) 713-3615 |
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